Mated To My Boyfriend's Dad-Chapter 51: _ Dead Students

Isleen

~~ freeweɓnøvel.com

"Mr. Fenrir?" Liam called.

Abruptly, the man halted in his tracks and turned our way. "Huh?"

"Your shoelaces are loosened."

I didn’t know why I had gotten goosebumps when Liam called Fenrir back. It just felt sudden for him to firmly call back the man but now that I found that it was because of his shoelaces, I decided that I had overreacted.

"Let’s go off to class, Liam," I said and we continued to class.

The classroom buzzed with the usual pre-lesson chatter, but as I entered with Liam, the students all scampered to their seats and were all suddenly quiet. The student’s eyes were wide and curious and they darted between me and Liam, who stood out starkly in his civilian clothes.

I knew that Liam not in his uniform would raise questions. Mrs. Morrigan and Fenrir, however, seemed to have overlooked it.

"Good morning, Ms. Isleen." Chorused the students to welcome me.

I smiled sweetly at them. "Morning, lovelies. I hope your weekends were well spent."

Okay, maybe that question wasn’t necessary.

They all, instead of replying to my question began to murmur.

Finally, "Jenna’s uncle is hurt, Ms. Isleen." A male student informed me.

"Oh, my." Terror took over my face as I turned to Jenna who was unusually quiet today. "Sorry about your uncle," I said but she wouldn’t look at me.

I wondered if that had brought back memories for Liam also. "To your seat," I ordered him and he promptly obeyed.

Just as Liam started to settle into a vacant seat, a girl named Lily, known for her sharp tongue, piped up, "So, is it true? Did your brother really die?"

Her flippant question was nothing but an intrusion into Liam’s grief.

My temper flared.

These kids!

This wasn’t mere childish curiosity; it was insensitive cruelty disguised as a question. Lily might as well be the younger version of Mrs. Morrigan.

Before Liam could even react, I stepped forward, my voice firm but also carried a quiet anger. "Lily," I addressed her directly, "Liam did lose his brother, and your question, frankly, wasn’t very sensitive."

Lily’s face flushed a deep red color, but her defiance remained. "It’s just a question," she mumbled, avoiding my gaze.

"And I understand that," I continued, allowing my voice to soften slightly, "but words have power, and we need to be mindful of the impact they have on others, especially when they’re dealing with pain."

Lily mumbled a grudging apology, her eyes downcast. I knew my words had hit home, but I also knew they wouldn’t erase the impact of her question on Liam.

The poor boy.

Maybe I shouldn’t have brought him to school this early. But then again, I also couldn’t leave him all alone at home like that.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to the class, my voice regaining its usual authority. "Now, I want you all to know something important. Liam is no longer just my student, he’s also my son. I’ve adopted him."

The announcement was met with a collective gasp and silent murmurs. I expected some resistance, and some rude questions, but none came. It seemed the point I was trying to pass with Lily had just worked perfectly well.

When silence finally settled, I dived straight into the lesson , "Instead of our usual curriculum today, I’m going to teach you something different. Something crucial in light of the recent events. We now know vampires are among us, and being prepared is vital. We all also know what they can do should they find us unprepared."

The students leaned forward, their curiosity piqued. "What are you going to teach us?" one brave soul asked.

"How to survive," I declared. "I will teach you how to recognize a vampire, how to avoid them, and most importantly, how to escape should you encounter one."

The atmosphere in the classroom shifted. The initial shock of my announcement was replaced by a tense focus. They understood the gravity of the situation. Nobody wanted to wound up dead. Be it old or young.

"After all..." I clasped my hands in front of me. "There would be no lessons if all we have are dead students."

My statement was met with gasps from the student but I didn’t mind. They needed to understand the gravity of the situation. They needed to understand reality.

"Silence!" I ordered firmly.

Without delay, the classroom was as quiet as a grave. "Who can tell us the first thing that sells out a vampire when you see one?"

In a few numbers, hands were up.

"Liam," I called, surprised and happy at the same time that the usual Liam who was always shy in class and barely spoke wanted to contribute.

The other students grumbled, thinking I had just selected him because he was my new son. I shook my head. "Tell us," I said, ignoring them.

Liam stood up. Their skin, Megami. It’s always as pale as that of a fairy on the verge of death."

That...

...There were a lot of things wrong with that answer. Firstly, I would never cease to find it cringe when Liam called me ’Megami’ like that.

Especially with the tone in which he says it. But most importantly, why did he have to use that simile?

Of a fairy on the verge of death...?

Did he still blame the fey for his brother’s death? Did Liam hate the fairies now? I thought he got it. I thought he had understood that it was none of their faults...

I didn’t want to scold him right here. I understand that he was still grieving. "That’s correct." I swallowed, turning to the marker board to write that down.

"The vampires have skin complexions like that of elves. But the vampires’ skin is always usually paler than elves’. That is because of their undead nature, as well as their aversion to sunlight. So, kids, it is the night that you should fear, for those evil things can’t own the day with us. They belong to the dark. Sunlight hurts them. Light wins against darkness. No vampire can walk around with us in broad daylight." I said, still writing on the board.

I had barely written all of that when someone entered the classroom.